Arriba Arriba East Side

This is hands down one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in NYC that I’ve tried. I like to go around trying different Mexican restaurants, comparing it to this one and none of them can compare. The staff is nice, the service is decent, the décor is cool but the food is great– and not too pricey!
Once you go in, like any other (good) Mex restaurants, they serve you some chips and salsa. They are so addicting, you’d most likely finish them before the meal comes. Their appetizers are good, from quesadillas to mozzarella sticks. I pretty much always get the same thing– a combo of two tacos (big tacos) with a side of rice and beans. But it’s not the only thing I’ve tried, and quite frankly everything I’ve tried has been delicious! Fajitas are great, they bring you a few fajita rolls and a sizzling plate of your choice of steak, chicken, shrimp, or all of the above. I’ve tried the T-​Bone steak which was also great. I’ve even stopped by for brunch, not expecting much since it wasn’t what I usually order and it’s early, but I was incredibly surprised by how good the brunch meal was as well! (I don’t remember now what it was, since it was pretty long ago). All the portions are great, enough to fill you up.
Every chance I go eat Mexican food with someone, I always take them over there and I’ve never heard a complaint. They all enjoy it, and I always want to go back there. If you love Mexican food, definitely come check this place out.

We came here and they were hosting a party for Thanksgiving so I am assuming you can have an event there.
The food was good, I had the flank steak, it comes with rice and black beans. The portion is big and satisfying.
I ordered the sangria, not bad but not the greatest one I have tried. My husband had the margarita which was an overdose of tequila! We asked the bar tender to add some lemon juice in it and and she did, it was still too strong.
Would come back here again if I were in the area.

When I was a boy I spent alot of time in my grandmothers kitchen. She was an incredible culinary master of Mexican cuisine. The smells that filled the house when she cooked were intoxicating. Tamales filled with spicy chicken and raisin, steak tacos with fresh onion cilantro and lime, piping hot menudo, and hand made tortillas. I miss those days so much and I would give just about anything for just a few moments with her in the old house on 5^th street.
One evening Niki and I were looking for a bite and I got a tip about a Mexican restaurant called Arriba Arriba. Once we arrived we were promptly seated. The décor was somewhat typical for this kind of restaurant, possibly a bit nicer. Our drink order was taken. We both ordered pomegranate margarita’s. They quickly arrived. YUM!!!
After scanning the menu I decided to try the enchiladas mole poblano. I was excited because it is one of my favorite dishes. After a short wait our meal arrived. Everything looked fantastic and the smell was so good. The moment of truth has come. Oh!!! now this place knows mole. It is the perfect blend of sweetness and spicy. The dish was nicely prepared and the chicken inside was very tender and tasty. You could not ask for a better enchilada dish, seriously, this was great!
For dessert I ordered the flan. It was good but nothing to write home about. A typical flan just shouldn’t be the end to such a great meal. So many places kick it up a notch and get creative with flan. I was expecting something a little more interesting here.
All in all a very good experience at Arriba Arriba and I would highly suggest it to anyone looking for some Mexican cuisine of high quality. It was a special night, but, every night with Niki is special. I’m a lucky guy.

A bunch of coworkers and I headed over here after work one night to wind down. Our server seemed unfazed by our rush of crazy and got right to work bringing us chips and salsa and plenty of booze.
The happy hour margaritas are only $ 5 or $ 6 and are large and in charge. Flavors aren’t included, but the classic was tart and did the trick. My chorizo quesadilla was shockingly good, actually, and the goat cheese gave it the perfect tang.
Our check was split and paid without fuss and service was prompt and friendly. Seems like a pretty solid happy hour spot!

I have never eaten at the restaurant but found this to be a great take-​out/​delivery Mexican place in the UES. I like their pollo a la parrilla, and the pescado relleno is good, too (if you like red snapper, this is a fun dish). Very reasonably priced.

Bland. Not bad if you don’t eat spicy. Blockheads around the block is tastier and cheaper.
Aruba Ariba has a calmer more sophisticated atmosphere.

Good Mexican spot on the UES. The burrittos are huge and delicious, the quesadillas are AWESOME and they make them with goat cheese… gotta love goat cheese.
Decent service, and a pretty good spot to go to with a small group or just one another.

Come here for brunch, lunch or dinner! The food is just yummy and uncomplicated. For brunch, I enjoy their seafood omelet that has tasty crab meat and plump shrimp wrapped in fluffy eggs. Sometimes I find myself only coming here on the weekend just for this dish. So good! Oh and the margaritas… so strong and affordable… enough said.

Chicken burrito, nachos, side of guac. The sauce on the burrito ruined it for me. It reminded me of a mooshy chef bourdee (no idea how to spell that anymore, and never liked it). Guac was not very tasteful, and was just missing something.

Yikes.
Seems like some restaurants require their employees to post Unilocal reviews…

Not a bad spot to booze and snack lightly before hitting the Met. We had lunch here before the McQueen exhibit. The service was horrid, the waiter barely came back to fill our water glasses and we could have finished 3 more rounds of drinks before seeing the check. It wasn’t where we were sitting either. We were right beside the bar, in the front.
The food was OK, but I don’t know why they called what I ordered a veggie burger. It was clearly a stack of sauteed vegetables that they weren’t even going to place between bread, had I not asked for it. It was strange. The fries were crispy and delicious, but we weren’t there for them– we were there for Mexican food! My favorite part of the meal was the sangria and chips/​salsa.

I have not been in a while.
I used to go here at least once a week for several years. It was a decent option for Tex Mex in the city. I have some friends who won’t go anywhere else. They have more on the menu than most Tex Mex places and something for even my lactose intolerant dining companions.
The problem is they either changed chefs or recipes. I used to frequently get the Chili Relleno. I liked it it was decent. Then after years they changed it and added a few pineapples and raisins. If I wanted a fruit salad I would have ordered a fruit salad. Other menu items just changed suddenly too. For that reason I stopped going. The food was pretty decent other wise. Don’t expect authentic Mexican other than tacos in the city but for decent Tex Mex it is pretty good.

My fave Mexican spot in the UES! The salsa is amazingly fresh, and I am always tempted to just gulp it down =P Prices are reasonable and the portions are so large, we always take it home for lunch the next day. Service is always friendly– never disappoints!
Make an effort to go on Monday and Tuesday for a great combo meal that includes drink, appetizer, and entrée. I always pack it o_​O To continue the goodness the next day :)

This is a tale of two restaurants.
The food here is absolutely excellent, and I especially love Saturday & Sunday brunch, which is incredibly affordable (~$ 14), and includes a drink (including alcoholic options) and an appetizer. The strip steak is the best I’ve had in Manhattan, bar none… that is, about half of the time. The other half, the food is mediocre, sometimes cold, unexpectedly bland and without its wonted spice, or even seemingly unsanitary (see Albert M’s review). When they’re on, they’re great, but about half the time the fare is pretty unpalatable.
I have to rate them down significantly though due to a traumatic break up. One day management decided to eliminate free refills on sodas without notifying me, although I’d been a guest at least once a week for a year. I had four friends with me during my next visit, and we wound up having to pay a $ 62 bill just for diet coke! (to be fair, we ARE heavy drinkers).
Anyway, instead of giving me a one time pass on this three-​day-​old policy, the manager threatened to call the police and have me escorted out if I wouldn’t «shut up and pay [my] bill!» I was tempted to put him to the test on this, but decided just pay, walk out, and never come back. I still miss Saturday brunch :(.

Arriba is still the best Mexican on the UES and now they have a great weekday deal, $ 14.95 for an app, main entrée and drink (Margarita, Sangria or Soft Drink).
Knowing the portions are large we split the cheese nachos, mushroom enchilada’s and a margarita. Everything was very good and they split both the drink and entrée onto separate dishes so we didn’t feel like we were sharing. The chips and salsa are plentiful and delicious too. SO much food for only $ 21 (with tax and tip). Also good that we’ve gotten in the past are the California Nachos (not on the menu), mushroom quesadillas and cheese enchiladas.

4 of us had dinner here this past Monday. 3 came down with food poisoning. I was the lucky one to escape unscathed.
I’d stay away if I were you!

Really good Mexican food at a great price.
Salsa has the right flavor and texture. Margaritas are some of the better ones I’ve had in NYC. The sangria margarita is great when you want to switch it up a bit. I’ve had many of their shrimp dishes and I must say they have all been excellent. The shrimp has always been plump and the perfect texture with excellent flavors.
It’s a spot that we go to often and have yet to be let down.

The place had an appeal from outside. So, I was waiting for a special occasion to relish a nice mexican food. That amount of hype was probably the killer of that night., and my thoughts about the place.
Pros: really nice and attentive waitresses, good service, good ambience, food «looks» good
Cons: can’t meet the expectations of the hype, food is not great (typical Americanized Mexican food), the nachos that I ordered (not the free chips) had ONLY FOUR chips with some guac & sour cream. Are you kidding me??? WTF? Nobody comes between me and my nachos! Let me hit save before I give into my temptation to take away a couple stars from there.

I was very impressed with the food at Arriba Arriba, as I had walked by many times without giving it a second thought. I think I was under the impression that it was more bar and less food… but I was wrong.
The walls are painted in (what I thought to be a little creepy, yet interesting) Mayan type of scenes. Like, I expected to see scenes of human sacrifice, yet luckily, those are not in the painting. The Margaritas are large and strong. The Chicken Fajitas were delicious, as was the Pescado Arriba (sauteed red snapper filet served over a bed of fresh tomatoes, avocado and sauteed pepper, onions, with orange vinaigrette. rice & beans).
Great for both ordering in from and going out to. A great casual place to go for good Mexican and some yummy margs with friends!

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